Vinales first Aprilia test

Talk is cheap but I'd like to think we're all surprised with some new found competitiveness from Mav once the lights go out. Funny how quickly and unexpected this has all come about, unlike Rossi's retirement.

If I recall correctly, Mav typically sounded upbeat when testing the Yamaha. However, .... happened on race weekends for whatever reason.

There seem to be rider riding style and bike setups that are not tangoing with the Michelin’s on many occasions. Maverick may be one of those.

misfit said:

If I recall correctly, Mav typically sounded upbeat when testing the Yamaha. However, .... happened on race weekends for whatever reason.

There seem to be rider riding style and bike setups that are not tangoing with the Michelin’s on many occasions. Maverick may be one of those.

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This to me is the big question. Was it simply impossible to find a setup for his riding style that would gel with the tires on the M1? Might the V4 be better suited for his aggressive riding style? Aleix did well to manage his tires to the end on a high corner speed circuit like Silverstone.

Given the lack of meaningful battles, anything that makes the front of the grid more interesting I'm in favor of.

JPSLotus said:

This to me is the big question. Was it simply impossible to find a setup for his riding style that would gel with the tires on the M1? Might the V4 be better suited for his aggressive riding style? Aleix did well to manage his tires to the end on a high corner speed circuit like Silverstone.

Given the lack of meaningful battles, anything that makes the front of the grid more interesting I'm in favor of.

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But that’s one weekend for Aleix. Maverick did have good weekends. But when so reflect on the grid performances there are some riders that are more consistent in doing well, others that are up and down from weekend to weekend and even session to session on a weekend (Binder, Olivera, Bagnaia), and there are some who are just consistently doing badly despite a recent history of doing a lot better (Petruci, Rossi).

I think many of the riders/engineers are like sitting ducks. You do a particular preparation that works well and then on race day things are horribly different.

The riders, I think, are unfortunately having to take too much of the burden of responsibility for their lack of consistent results. Bagnaia must be particularly upset. So was Mir who seemed on the verge of tears. I’ve never seen him as distressed in recent times about a race as he was at Silverstone.

Yamaha may have been placing that burden on Maverick which would be … a great shame … for both parties.